DynaLOAD: a simulation framework for planning, managing and controlling urban delivery bays

The paper proposes a simulation framework for planning, managing and controlling urban delivery schemes taking into account the real-time occupancy of delivery bays and the possibility to drive transport operators in their delivery tours providing personal and real-time information. A methodology that allows the real-time management of urban delivery operations (including prior booking) to be simulated and the performance indicators (to be used in the ex-ante assessment of delivery scenarios) to be computed was developed, on top of an application for testing the presented methods and for pointing out the importance of using telematics applications for managing and controlling such operations. Significant results were obtained according to some management and operations control rules.